President Donald Trump delivers a speech during a ceremony at the American Cemetery of Suresnes, outside Paris, on Nov. 11, 2018, as part of Veterans Day and commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I.(Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images)

Trump said Republican Rick Scott, the governor who campaigned to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, and Republican Ron DeSantis, the House member running for governor against Democrat Andrew Gillum, should each be declared winner in their races.

Trump’s comments followed the beginning of the recount of more than 8 million votes from the Nov. 6 election. It is the first statewide recount in history, and will also cover the state race for agriculture commissioner and several state-level offices.

The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!

Brendan Nyhan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, tweeted that Trump was making baseless accusations of fraud and calling for the vote to be halted while his allies were ahead.

The President is making baseless accusations of fraud and calling for the vote count to be stopped while his political allies are ahead. What would you say if you saw it in another country? https://t.co/Yp8TqALiDK

Ballot counting began in Broward and Palm Beach counties, two Democratic strongholds, after razor-thin margins caused Florida's secretary of state to order a recount on Saturday.

Scott claimed victory on election night, and has accused election officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties of "rampant fraud." He asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.

Nelson said Monday that Scott should recuse himself from the recount.

“Given his efforts to undermine the votes of Floridians, this is the only way that we can ensure that the people’s votes are protected," Nelson said. “He’s thrown around words like voter fraud without any proof."